Bangla2000 | International News - Mori appoints new cabinet in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori bows as members of the lower house applaud after the Parliament voted to let Mori keep his post during the special Diet session in Tokyo Tuesday, July 4, 2000. Mori. who received 284 of 479 votes cast, reshuffled his 18-member Cabinet later in the day. (AP Photo)

TOKYO (AP) - Japanese Parliament voted Tuesday to let Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori keep his post, ensuring the continuation of his party's public-spending policies to turn around the economy.

Mori appointed a new Cabinet later in the day but kept the same three key ministers - foreign affairs, finance and economic planning. Two women were appointed, as construction and environment ministers, up from the previous one.

The retention of the key Cabinet members was aimed at maintaining political stability as Japan resuscitates its economy. Japan will also be playing host to the July 21-23 Group of Eight meeting of industrialized nations on the southernmost island of Okinawa.

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa expressed optimism over new signs of economic recovery but urged continued vigilance.

"We must carefully watch employment and consumer spending," Miyazawa said. "I'm hoping for a shift by this autumn from a recovery led by public spending to one driven by private demand."

Japan's economy grew by 0.5 percent for the last fiscal year ending in March after two consecutive years of contraction.

Also reappointed were Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Economic Planning Agency Chief Taichi Sakaiya.

The appointment of Chikage Ogi as construction minister was widely viewed as an attempt by the government to clean up the image of the powerful ministry that is embroiled in a bribery scandal.

Eiichi Nakao was arrested last week on charges of accepting bribes from a construction company while he was construction minister in 1996.

"This is not a post that a woman would have gotten under usual circumstances," Ogi told reporters after her appointment. "What happened was unbelievable."

But the additional female appointments were modest considering sizable gains made by women in the June 25 election. Voters chose 35 women in last month's Lower House election, the largest since 39 were elected 44 years ago.

Emperor Akihito will appoint the new Cabinet in a largely ritualistic ceremony Tuesday evening.

With Mori at the helm, few changes are expected in Japan's policies, while the nation struggles to jump-start its ailing economy.

Mori's party lost seats in last month's lower house elections so that it no longer controls a majority on its own. But it still rules in a coalition with two other parties.

The coalition partners, the Buddhist-backed New Komeito Party and the New Conservative Party, each received one post in the 18-member Cabinet.

In Tuesday's vote in Parliament's lower house, Mori received 284 of 479 votes, while Yukio Hatoyama, head of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, came in second with 130 votes. In the less powerful upper house, Mori received 133 of 242 votes, while Hatoyama got 60 votes.

Mori, who took office in April after his predecessor Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke and died, has promised to carry on Obuchi's policies of public spending.

Last month's ballot gave the coalition a comfortable majority of 271 seats in the 480-seat lower house. But that was down sharply from the 336 seats it had controlled before the vote.

Mori's Liberal Democrats saw their power fall to 233 seats from 271, meaning they now have to rely more on their two coalition partners to get legislation passed.

The top opposition group, the liberal, reform-oriented Democratic Party boosted its seats by more than 30 percent to 127. - Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, re-elected by Parliament Tuesday, reappointed the finance, foreign and economic planning ministers and named two women to the Cabinet:

The 80-year-old former prime minister has been at the center of the government's effort to pull Japan out of its worst economic slump since World War II. Miyazawa is the main architect behind the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's plan to reform Japan's banking system. He also helped gain passage in March of a record 84.99 trillion yen (dlrs 800 billion) budget for the fiscal year that began April 1. As finance minister in 1986-88, he presided over speculative investments in stocks and real estate. Prices later collapsed, sending the world's second-largest economy into its present funk.

Kono, 63, was first elected to Parliament in 1967 and has served 11 terms in the lower house. A graduate of prestigious Waseda University, he became president of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1993. He was deputy prime minister under former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1994. Late Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi named Kono as foreign minister in October, the second time he has held that job. The son of a politician, Kono is considered a foreign policy expert.

Sakaiya, 64, author and one of two non-politicians in the Cabinet, has warned that Japan's economy suffers from a "terminal sickness." The former official of the powerful Ministry of International Trade and Industry has also called for curtailing the powers of Japan's bureaucrats. The plain-speaking Sakaiya appears often on television talk shows, offering clear explanations on the economy.

Hiranuma, 60, is the stepson of a former prime minister and served as transport minister from August 1995 to January 1996. Hiranuma also served as parliamentary vice minister of finance from November 1987 to December 1988. He attended prestigious Keio University and worked for Nitto Boseki Co., a medium-sized cotton-spinner, for 11 years before entering politics.

Ogi, a 67-year-old actress-turned lawmaker, is Japan's first female construction minister and the only Cabinet member drawn from the New Conservative Party, a coalition partner. Ogi left the Liberal Democratic Party in 1993 to join the now-defunct Japan Renewal Party and was picked earlier this year to lead the NCP. Ogi is known for her blunt manner and outspoken remarks. She caused a stir when she said a 1974 radiation-leakage accident involving Japan's first nuclear-powered ship, the Mutsu, was "natural," as the ship was a prototype. She is also a fan of the kimono, occasionally appearing in Parliament wearing the traditional Japanese dress.

Kawaguchi, 59, the second woman in Mori's new Cabinet, is a managing director of major Japanese distillery Suntory Ltd. and a former trade ministry bureaucrat. During her 28 years at the ministry she chiefly handled trade matters and also served a stint

as a minister at the Japanese Embassy in Washington. She joined Suntory in 1993. She has promoted bottle-recycling and other environmental drives at the company.